Florida jobless rate hits '92 level

Economy in crisis

Florida lost more than 21,000 jobs in December, pushing the state's unemployment rate to 8.1 percent, the highest in 16 years and up seven-tenths of a percentage point from November.

The state's jobless rate, the highest since September 1992, stands at almost 1 percentage point more than the national average of 7.2 percent, according to the Agency for Workforce Innovation. There are now about 752,000 people out of work in the Sunshine State.

The even worse news is that analysts expect the job market to slide throughout the year.

"The near-term outlook is not good," according to a report prepared for the U.S. Conference of Mayors. "A return to solid growth is at least a year away."

"There's really no relief in the near term," Snaith said. "2009 is going to be an incredibly difficult year in Florida, and jobless numbers are going to rise the whole time."

In Metro Orlando -- which includes Lake, Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties -- the jobless rate climbed to 7.7 percent, up from 7.4 percent in November and more than three points higher than this time last year. In those four counties, Osceola reported the highest unemployment, with 8.7 percent of workers out of a job.

Brevard and Volusia counties came in at 8.4 percent and 8.6 percent, according to the state, while Polk County rose to 8.7 percent.

Florida has lost about 255,000 jobs since December 2007, due largely to the state's struggling construction and housing market. More than 88,000 construction jobs have vanished during the past 12 months, making that sector account for about a third of the state's total job losses.

'I've looked everywhere'

Miguel Aviles knows firsthand about the building boom's bust.

A contractor -- he spent 20 years building in Puerto Rico -- Aviles has spent months looking for construction work. He has hit a series of dead ends and is now working part time as a security guard. But the job pays relatively little and offers no health insurance.

"I've looked everywhere," said Aviles, sitting in the crowded Orlando lobby of Workforce Central Florida, the state's job service center. "I've talked to friends and people in the business, but there's nothing out there right now."

At a table nearby, another job seeker cursed quietly after discovering she just missed a call on her cell phone from a company looking to interview her.

"Everyone is worried," Aviles said.

Even the folks who help people find work aren't immune. Louis Gonzalez said he worked for Workforce Central Florida for five years before being laid off in May. Friday, Gonzalez was back at the agency's Osceola County office looking for a job. "They are so busy right now," he said. "They could use me."

Recession 'gone global'

Though construction has taken the biggest hit in Florida, virtually all job sectors are feeling the economic squeeze. Professional and business service jobs are down 4 percent from last year; manufacturing is down 7.4 percent; and trade, transportation and utilities have lost 5 percent.

Tourism-related jobs, which for a time had propped up Central Florida, have dipped 1.5 percent, in part because the global economy is sputtering, making international travel to Florida less appealing. Early this week, the Walt Disney Co. said it was offering buyouts to more than 300 executives in Orlando.

"The recession has gone global," Snaith said. "Even 'The Happiest Place on Earth' is vulnerable."

Health, education spared

Only education and health-related industries have managed to fight off the unemployment bug. Those fields grew by about 4.2 percent in the past year, adding more than 42,000 jobs.

At the county level, Liberty County (population 7,800) in the Panhandle reported the lowest jobless rate, at 5 percent. Flagler County had the highest, at 11.7 percent.